First Day of Second School Year
Busy first day at Panyaden School We had a busy first day of school as students new and old came together for the first day of the first term of our second ever school year. There were tears and hugs (from parents as well as students!) as brave new pre-schoolers ventured into unfamiliar classrooms. And [...]
News Coverage: Panyaden School Opening Ceremony
Panyaden School In The News Here’s an article on Panyaden School’s official opening with our Buddhist ceremony and enshrinement of relics on 24 April 2012 in Chiang Mai Mail. Includes a paragraph about our bilingual education and unique school concept. Click here for full article and photos by editor, Shana Kongmun. Snapshot above taken from [...]
Summer School Week 4: Soil
Learning about soil For the last five weeks, our Summer School students have been learning about different aspects of nature through challenging games, storytelling in addition to other creative activities and fun field trips. Our aim is to open our minds to love and enjoy nature by becoming familiar with its different elements and how [...]
Chiang Mai Award for Our Green School
Architecture and Design Award for Panyaden School Today, Panyaden School had the honour of receiving a design award for excellence in architecture and interior design from the committee of Chiang Mai Creative City (CMCC). CMCC promotes Chiang Mai as an internationally known city of creativity and innovation such as its interesting and sustainable architectural designs [...]
Teacher Training
What have our teachers been doing over summer? Over the past 3 weeks, Panyaden’s teachers have been undergoing our summer training programme. We are committed to being lifelong learners and acknowledge that there is always room for improvement. During this summer break we have been focusing on a number of areas, identified together with our teachers, where [...]
Panyaden School Official Opening Ceremony
An Auspicious Day Accompanied by the gentle rhythmic peals of bells and the resonance of a gong being struck along with offerings of food and flowers, Panyaden School’s official opening ceremony began on a movingly dignified note today with a procession to our main Buddha image, Phra Panyanuphap Chaiyamongkol. Our Spiritual Advisor, Taan [...]
Opening Ceremony: Preparations for 24 April
It’s all hands on deck as Panyaden rehearses and prepares for our big day tomorrow. We look forward to celebrating our official opening ceremony with you and your family! Agenda for 24 Apr 2012 7.30 – 8.30am: Procession and enshrinement ceremony led by our Spiritual Advisor, Taan Ajahn Jayasaro 9.00 – 9.30am: Refreshments at Parents’ [...]
Summer School Week 3
Let’s Rock! Rocks and minerals can be fun to learn about through exploratory games and activities like scavenger hunts and grinding them down to create art and craft projects. Our focus for week 3 is on the importance of these natural elements that make up the earth’s crust and mantle. Children are naturally curious and [...]

12th Wise Habit

Mar 172012

Kung Fu Chef: the grand soup finale

For our last week of term, Kung Fu Chef explained that if we put all the Panyaden 12 Wise Habits together and practice them, the results will see us ‘using our minds skillfully’ (Yonisomanasikara, การคิดเป็น). Our lives can be enriched if we study and understand our minds and learn to use them wisely – from breaking bad habits to maintaining calm in a trying situation. To use our mind well, we should first know what it is like and how it works. This is the 12th wise habit.

So this week the Kung Fu Chef asked us to practise wise decision making. We should weigh up the pros and cons, the causes and effects of our words or actions before deciding which option to take. And if we make mistakes, instead of being downhearted, we should always reflect and see how we can do things better next time. We should understand that nothing is permanent. Like our bodies, our moods and feelings also change and so we should learn not to react negatively to difficulties.

Having practised Yonisomanasikara (or Yo for short!) all week, the Kung Fu Chef rewarded us all with a delicious soup from all the ingredients we have been collected this week. Into the pot went Awihinsa, Mattanuta, Chanta and every wise habit we have learned. Next term the Kung Fu Chef promises to return to teach us more fun and innovative ways to learn, practise and remember these wise habits for life. To remind you, here they are again:

Using the senses wisely, Indriyasamvara, การสำรวมระวังอินทรีย์
Knowing the right amount, Mattannuta, การเป็นผู้รู้จักประมาณ (มัตตัญญุตา)
Not harming, Awihimsa, การไม่เบียดเบียน (อวิหิงสา)
Being patient and tolerant, Khanti, การอดทนอดกลั้น (ขันติ)
Desiring knowledge, truth and goodness, Chanta, ความยินดีในกิจที่ทำ (ฉันทะ)
Being truthful, Sacca, ความซื่อสัตย์ (สัจจะ)
Persevering, Wiriya Chakriyanuyok, ความเพียร (วิริยะ)
Being generous, Caga, การเสียสละ (จาคะ)
Being kind and compassionate, Metta Karuna, เมตตากรุณา
Being mindful and alert, Sati, การมีสติ
Being calm and focused, Samati, การมีจิตแน่วแน่ (สมาธิ)
Applying the mind skillfully, Yonisomanasikara, การคิดเป็น (โยนิโสมนสิการ)

Panyaden School teacher acting as a chef to teach children

This Week’s New Wise Habits

Mar 082012

Being generous, kind and compassionate Two boys are good friends who enjoy playing football together. Losing can be hard but when one of them loses the game, instead of feeling sad or bitter, he congratulates his friend who, in turn, gracefully accepts without gloating. The losing friend is genuinely happy that his friend had won. [...]

P1-2 Field Trip to Dokmai Garden

Mar 022012

“We were excited to have such well educated, well behaved and interested children, and to meet teachers who took such a pride in pedagogic efforts and to make knowledge fun. When children spray you with questions and regret when they have to leave five hours later, then you feel the future is in safe hands.” [...]

Using Our Senses Wisely

Feb 292012

New food for thought (and action) While we eagerly await the Kung Fu Chef to introduce a new tasty ingredient to add to the special soup mix, let’s review how some of us practised ‘being truthful’ (สัจจะ) last week. Kindergarten student, Din, for example, realized that being truthful also means keeping your promises to people. Bence [...]

New Wise Habit

Feb 202012

Serving Up Sacca ความซื่อสัตย์ (สัจจะ) Fellow cooks, are you ready to add more ingredients to our soup pot today? The Kung Fu Chef applauds everyone for their efforts in using the last 2 ingredients (Sati, ‘being mindful and alert’ and Samathi, ‘being calm and focused’). Often, it does not take a lot of effort or time [...]

Wise Habits Week 5

Feb 132012

Panyaden’s Special Soup Recipe Add a dash of Mattannuta (‘knowing the right amount’, มัตตัญญุตา) and a sprinkling of Chanta (‘desiring knowledge, truth and goodness’, ฉันทะ) to the broth in our Kung Fu Chef’s large shiny soup pot. Stir in a tablespoonful of Awihimsa (‘not harming’, อวิหิงสา) to taste. With the help of your fellow cooks, [...]

Sustainable Crop Programme

Feb 092012

K2-3 at the rice mill With a heave and a push, our K2-3 children helped each other grind rice grains between heavy milling stones. They were having fun learning about rice milling at the United Way Center (sic) for Sustainable Communities. This trip to Lamphun was a culmination of our Sustainable Crop programme where the [...]

Two New Ingredients

Feb 062012

‘Wiriya Chakriyanuyok’ ความเพียร (วิริยะ) & ‘Khanti’ การอดทนอดกลั้น (ขันติ) Kru Michel is learning to write the Thai alphabet. Try as he might, he could not quite get it right. However, he does not give up; he keeps persevering until he can write it correctly. His commitment and tenacity embodies for us one of this week’s 2 [...]

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